


Poor Choice of Impulse Control

by maddestofthemad



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-06
Updated: 2016-08-06
Packaged: 2018-07-29 19:51:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7697353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maddestofthemad/pseuds/maddestofthemad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shiro drops in on the resident mechanic for a bonding moment.</p><p>Written within canon, adjusted for an oc.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Poor Choice of Impulse Control

**Author's Note:**

> A friend convinced me to write this, and despite my hesitations I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. More of this will probably be coming up as I work out the kinks a little bit. 
> 
> Also - they/them pronouns for simon.

‘What the hell, why not’ could be said to be Simon’s life motto.  It was what got them in to so many situations that were probably best avoided, but it was also what allowed them to meet the best people.  So when they had noticed three young cadets sneaking off the base one night and wondered if they should follow, it was little wonder that ‘what the hell, why not’ was their sole reason in doing so.  They weren’t overly impulsive in most aspects of life, and certainly not in obvious important situations, but when it came to the little things, it did not take much to push them in the direction of rash choices.

Unfortunately, some of the most important moments can’t be seen as such until they have been decided, acted on, and looked at from the future with either affection or loathing.  As they say – hindsight _is_ twenty-twenty.

So it was with affection that Simon – on top of a metal crate, standing on tiptoe to reach a particularly hard-to-reach spot on the back of a giant robotic lion – looked back on that moment they had decided to follow the cadets.  And then stowed away on a blue lion and found themself on an alien space ship, so far from the planet they had known, with not one, but _five_ robotic lions, their paladins, and two aliens.

Yeah.  Definitely an important moment.

“One stowaway, an alien castle, and a few space battles later…” they smiled as they found the notch they were looking for and wrapped their hands around it.  “Don’t move please,” they said.  Closing their eyes, they counted to three, then jumped and heaved, hauling themself onto the back of the lion.  Once there, straddling his shoulder, they blinked their eyes open again and laughed quietly.  “Time was that never would have been possible,” they mused. 

“Ah, here we go, this is the problem.  What’ve you been running in to, big guy?  Space urchins?”  Simon eyed the metal spike sticking out of the groove between the neck of the lion and his shoulder.  “Hm…” they looked down, frowning at their tool box on the floor.  “Shit.”

“Need a hand?”

Simon jumped as Shiro walked into the hangar, looking up at them.  “Um…yeah – could you hand me – if it’s no trouble –”

“Toolbox?” Shiro picked it up and held it so they could see.

“Please,” Simon blushed, but nodded.

Effortlessly pulling himself up onto the metal crate Simon had scaled earlier, he stood and handed them the toolbox.

“Thanks,” Simon immediately started digging around looking for something specific, watching Shiro from beneath their bangs.

“Space urchin?”

“Oh, y’know,” they pulled a rag from the tool box and wrapped it around their hand, then lodged a device beside the spike for leverage, “like those spiny things in the ocean.”  Getting a good grip on the spike, they started to work it back and forth carefully, brow furrowed in concentration.  “Bitches to step on, I hear.  Never seen one personally though.”

Shiro crossed his arms as he watched, smiling at the absent way they spoke as they worked.  “A _sea_ urchin,” he laughed and Simon fumbled their grip a bit.  “Careful there,” Shiro deftly hauled himself up across from Simon, adding his grip to theirs.  “Here, let me help.”

“You don’t have to – really,” their embarrassment deepened, “I’m sure you have other things to do.”

Shiro shrugged, “Not really,” he began easing the spike back and forth as Simon had, giving no indication he saw the blush on their cheeks.  “other than training and keeping Keith and Lance from tearing each other apart there’s not much to do around here.  Besides, it’s calmer in here than out there,” he jerked his head toward the door.

Tweaking the placement of their leverage, Simon got up on their knees and braced carefully, trying not to let their shaking hands brush Shiro’s.  Since Simon had been discovered stowed away they hadn’t had much time to talk to the others aboard the Altean ship.  It had been battle after battle, with training sprinkled in when possible.  The only times the lions were in the bay were when they weren’t in use, which generally meant the paladins were resting, making it the perfect time to effect repairs.  Knowing they were somewhere they shouldn’t be – they _were_ a stowaway – Simon did what they could to not get in the way, as well as help.  They certainly weren’t a mechanic at the academy, but there was no need for a geologist in this ship, so Simon had spent the first week teaching themself everything they could about mechanics.  Then they’d taken that knowledge to the lions and – with fingers crossed – started the true learning.

Tugging carefully, Simon stuck their tongue out of the corner of their mouth.  “Count of three,” they said, forcing themself to concentrate on the task at hand and not Shiro’s proximity as he leaned in to get a better grip.  “One,” they increased the pressure ever so slightly, “two – almost there…three!” the spike popped loose and Simon yelped as they overestimated how much pull was needed and started to topple over backward.

“Simon!”  Shiro lunged forward as the spike fell to the ground below, clattering loudly.  His hand closed on fabric just before they went over the edge.  For a moment Simon hung there, eyes wide as they looked down at the drop behind them, then at Shiro’s hand clutched in the fabric of their shirt, then up at Shiro himself.

“Well,” they breathed, heart pounding in their chest for a variety of reasons, “that could have been bad.  Nice catch.”

Shiro had a strange look on his face as he slowly eased them into a stable position.  He relaxed his grip on their shirt, but didn’t fully release it.  Simon glanced down at his hand.  For a very brief moment the thought ‘what the hell, why not’ ran through their mind, causing a fierce blush to stain their cheeks.    

“Uh…Shiro?” they ignored the thought.

“Wha – oh, sorry,” he dropped his hand, rubbing the back of his neck with the other.  He was a bit pale.

Simon blinked, their blush fading as they watched Shiro closely.  “You alright?”

Shiro froze, looking up at them.

“What?” Simon frowned, looking down at themself.  “Is there something – did my shirt rip?  What’s wrong?” Simon patted at themself, hands shaking as they tried to find what was wrong.

Shiro’s laugh brought them up short and their head snapped up, confusion clouding their anxiety for a moment.  Simon bit their lip, unable to discern what Shiro was laughing at.  But in all honesty only a part of them cared.  The other part was struck by how genuine the laugh sounded, the way Shiro’s eyes crinkled, and his shoulders shook.  There was an ease to his action, one that Simon had never seen before.  They found themself smiling at him.

“Please, share the joke,” they rubbed the back of their neck, glancing to the side.

“You!”  Shiro said, finally catching his breathe.  “Simon you almost just fell fifteen feet and you ask if – if _I’m_ okay?”  He chuckled and sighed, “Sorry.  I just wonder if you even notice sometimes.”

“Notice what?” Simon asked, tilting their head a little.  They really hoped he would keep smiling.

“Your first instinct, in any situation, is always to ask about everyone else.  It’s incredible.”  Shiro reached over and picked up Simon’s tool box.  “Take this for instance.  I _know_ you’re not a mechanic, but in the short time we’ve been here you’ve learned enough that you are.  And you did that for us.  You’re in here any time we’re not, ensuring that the lions are in good repair.”

Simon’s face was beat red and they ducked their head down, allowing their hair to fall over their eyes.  “Shiro that’s – I – look that’s flattering and all but, I think you’re giving me too much credit,” they protested.  They bit their lip, unable to look up at Shiro.

“Really?”  Shiro frowned as he watched Simon, “I don’t know many people that could teach themselves mechanics, let alone as quickly as you did.  _And_ you’ve gained the trust of the lions.  Aside from Allura, who has a literal magical bond with them, you are the only one other than their own paladins that they’ll let work on them.  You can’t deny the facts, Simon.”

Simon shrugged, looking up at Shiro.  “Thank you,” they said simply, but with a strange tone that made Shiro pause.

He watched them for a moment, then shook his head, smiling.  Simon’s shoulders relaxed as he gestured for them to hop down from the lion.  Reaching over, Simon plucked their tool box from Shiro’s lap and grabbed the tool they had used for leverage, sliding off the side of the lion, onto the crate below, then carefully jumped down to the ground.  Shiro’s eyes followed them and he shook his head, marveling.

“Hunk cooked lunch!” he called as Simon made their way across the hanger.

“I’ll be there in a bit!” Simon called over their shoulder, heading out into the hall.

“They’re going to get distracted,” Shiro mused allowed, glancing at the yellow lion’s head.  “I should bring them a plate before Lance eats it all, shouldn’t I?”  A low rumbled resounded from the lion.  “I think I’ll do just that.”  Shiro patted the lion, then followed Simon’s path back to the ground, and picked up the spike on the floor.

“Huh,” he chuckled, “space urchin.”  Shaking his head as he laughed, Shiro headed to the kitchen.


End file.
